68 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



In August they begin to sing, here and there an 

 individual being heard in the fields ; but when the 

 weather grows warmer they repair to the plantations 

 in vast numbers, and, sitting on the branches, 

 sing in a concert of innumerable voices, which 

 produces a great volume of confused sound, and 

 which often continues for hours at a time without 

 intermission, 



By-and-by these pleasant choirs break up, the 

 birds all scattering over the plains and fields to woo 

 and build, and it is then first discovered that the 

 male has a peculiar and very sweet song. Apart from 

 his fellows he acquires a different manner of singing, 

 soaring up from his stand on the summit of a bush or 

 stalk, and beginning his song the moment he quits 

 his perch* Ascending he utters a series of long 

 melodious notes, not loud but very distinctly enun- 

 ciated and increasing in volume ; at a height of fifty 

 or sixty yards he pauses, the notes becoming slower ; 

 then, as he descends with a graceful flight, the wings 

 outstretched and motionless, the notes also fall, 

 becoming slower, sweeter, and more impressive till 

 he reaches the earth* After alighting he continues 

 the song, the notes growing longer, thinner, and 

 clearer, until they dwindle to the merest threads of 

 sound, and cease to be audible except to a person 

 standing within a few yards of the singer. The song 

 is quite unique in character, and its great charm is in 

 its gradual progress from the somewhat thick notes 

 at the commencement to the thin, tremulous tones 

 with which the bird returns to earth, and which 



